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little more than a cliché, with its implications that both ‘subculture’ and the parent culture against which it is defined are coherent and homeogenous formations that can be clearly demarcated” (p. 7). People do seem to create categorizations for themselves and others; as I have noted, different types of gamers have been known to distinguish themselves from each other. However, a more critical look at any of these communities shows that they are far from homeogenous. For example, there are tabletop gamers who are more focused on combat and ones who are more focused on story and character. The same is true for computer gamers. Some Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) gamers focus on the cooperative, team-building aspects of the game while others prefer to engage in player-versus-player combat. None of these communities are homogeneous; which is a limitation of looking at genre from the perspective of audience. Nevertheless, I argue that homogeneity is not necessary for coherence. TPRG players are able to bond together because of common interests and goals while still maintain diverse approaches to the game.

Earlier studies of subcultures tended to not only see these populations as homogenous but to herald their rejection of mainstream capitalist culture. Stahl (2003) explains that an early view of subculture was that it “took objects from the dominant culture and transformed their everyday naturalized meaning into something spectacular” (p. 27). We can see this view present in Jenkins (1992) early work on fandom, and despite Textual Poachers place as a key text in media studies, it has been challenged on this same ground. In their edited collection on fandom, Gray, Sandvoss, and Harrington (2007) explain that early fan studies were overtly political. They “sided with the tactics of fan audiences in their evasion of dominant ideologies, and set out to rigorously defend fan communities against their ridicule in the mass media and by non-fans” (p. 2). By doing so, scholars of fandom maintained the binary between fans (who were creative and rebellious) and mainstream culture (which was consumer-based and non-productive) (Gray et al., 2007, p. 3). As a result, fandom studies focused on those fans who participated in activities such as fan fiction and ignored other fans, particularly those who may seem to be more in line with dominant cultural ideologies (like sports fans) (Gray et al., 2007, p. 5).

Gray, Sandvoss, and Harrington (2007) explain that a second wave of fandom scholars has been more careful about falling into binary thinking and has sought to explicate fandom’s role within the dominant, capitalist system. The work of Matt Hills (2002) falls in this category. Hills (2002) explains the paradox of studying fandom; that within it exists “both anticommercial ideologies and commodity-completist practices” (p. 28). Fans may follow a philosophy that resists consumerism, and many may engage with texts in a more productive manner but they nevertheless buy products. Many fans are collectors of specialized merchandise, and these fans may or may not be the same fans who also work to creatively produce texts of their own. In fact, Hills (2002) recognizes that some of those within the dominant power structures, particularly some TV producers, have come to recognize the value of fans and appealing to them (p. 36).

A part of this shift is also the shift of post-modernism: as we become an increasingly specialized society, the specialized niche audience of fans becomes increasingly important. A producer no longer has to appeal to every family watching prime time TV, but can focus on an audience that tunes in to a specialty cable channel to see a particular type of show. In addition, producers who are particularly popular with fans (such as Joss Whedon) have made moves to directly appeal to them. During the writer’s strike of 2008, Whedon released “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” online to fans, free of charge. While it later was released as a DVD as well as a soundtrack and other products, the initial video was